Irish Food, Recipes and Travel Adventures
Shop online for Irish Food Gifts, Coffee & Tea, Beverages, Breads & Scones,
Chocolates & Candy, Cookies, Jams, Mustards and Relishes

ittle Shamrocks.com is dedicated to our Irish Heritage and our love for Ireland. We are Tyna Willett and Terry Reynolds and we would like to share with you some of the most delightful times of our lives. We both immensely enjoyed the food and we invite you to experience the great tastes of Ireland. If you have never tried traditional Irish cuisine, you will love it! If you have traveled there and enjoyed the food, you will want to rediscover it.

Traditional Irish food is what Americans call “down home cooking” and it begins with the full Irish breakfast. Because the traditional worker is a farmer or laborer, the breakfast meal is the most important of the day. These workers will get up at the crack of dawn and work until the dinner hour at noon.

When visiting Ireland, we were very impressed by the food put out for breakfast. The meal starts with juice and a piece of fruit, cereal, and then your coffee or tea, along with brown bread or toast with jams, preserves or marmalades. The next course is a heaping plate consisting of two eggs, two sausages, two rashers (bacon), a piece of ham, black and white pudding (blood sausage), grilled tomatoes, potatoes (either chips or pancakes), beans and mushrooms. The meal is finished up with all the coffee or tea you can drink. This feast is meant to stay with you until you break for dinner at noon. You can find an Irish breakfast at any hotel, restaurant or cafe.

Your typical dinner (lunch) is a generous helping of meat, boiled potatoes or chips, two or three vegetables, brown or white soda bread, and tea or coffee. When we were in Ireland, the restaurants were always filled during the dinner hour between 12:00 - 1:00 PM. People would eat their dinner and go back to their jobs until quitting time when they would head for home and the final meal of the day.

Supper is a much more relaxed meal at the end of the day, being at home after a hard days work. There is soup with bread to start, then the main course of meat that could range from chicken to lamb, with condiments of your choice, plenty of boiled potatoes, and two or three vegetables like carrot root, beet root or cabbage. The meal ends with dessert of pie or cake and coffee or tea. After supper you might have a pint of Guinness or a whiskey.

When visiting Ireland, if you want to eat like the Irish, the pubs are the best place to go. Most pubs are also restaurants and, during meal times, they serve up all of the same foods that I have described. Then, after the dinner hour, they will serve what they call “bar food” such as sandwiches, chips (fries) and burgers. There is a multitude of different Irish eateries throughout the country. You will find 4-star restaurants with menu items like smoked salmon and filet mignon or you might happen onto Chinese cuisine, curry, fish and chips take away, even McDonald's or a pizza shop. However, the best value is the pub/restaurant which, in my opinion, is the best food.

Hopefully, my description of traditional Irish food has tickled your palate, and you will want to try some of the products in our Online Store. Don't forget to check out the Recipes section, and feel free to use any or all of the recipes. The Travel Stories will give you some idea of being in Ireland, and perhaps you will soon have your own stories to tell. So Welcome to LittleShamrocks.com ... We hope you will enjoy your stay!